Gaetano Pesce’s Mountains Cover the Aspen Art Museum, and Other News

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A giant intervention by Gaetano Pesce is covering the Aspen Art Museum’s facade.

“Gaetano Pesce has conceived sculptures and installations for the two-part exhibition ‘My Dear Mountains’ at the ground-floor gallery of Aspen Art Museum in Colorado. Pesce’s recent show exhibits a maelstrom of furniture, drawings, and sculptures that identify his experimental style with his materials as well as his pursuit of technological and social innovation. For the first time, he also took on an outdoor intervention on the museum’s façade. The monumental site-specific and temporary public art portrays the title of his exhibition as boulder-shaped hills rise from the ground and gather in their green and blue shades.” [H/T Designboom]

The Great Barrier Reef is recording the highest amount of coral cover in four decades.

“Two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia recorded the highest amount of coral cover in nearly four decades, though the reef is still vulnerable to climate change and mass bleaching, a monitoring group said Thursday. The northern and central parts of the UNESCO world heritage-listed reef have experienced some recovery while the southern region has seen a loss of coral cover due to crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks, according to a report by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, a government agency.” [H/T CNBC]

Foster + Partners will redesign New York’s oft-maligned Port Authority Bus Terminal.

“In a major step forward in a years-long scheme to retire the grime-encrusted snarl of ramps and corridors known as the Port Authority Bus Terminal, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has revealed the two-firm team that will lead the design of a sparkly new Midtown Manhattan bus hub: Foster + Partners and the Chicago-headquartered design and engineering firm Epstein. The latter firm has helmed numerous large-scale infrastructure and civic projects and, notably, partnered with FXCollaborative to develop an expansion plan for the nearby Jacob K. Javits Center. As for Foster + Partners, the London-based global firm has numerous high-profile transport projects under its belt.” [H/T The Architect’s Newspaper]

Jean-Georges Vongerichten will close New York’s Mercer Kitchen after a 25-year run. 

“It’s the end of an era in Soho: Jean-Georges Vongerichten will be closing Mercer Kitchen at the end of the year. Open since 1998, the downtown institution is situated in the basement of the Mercer Hotel, and it’s attracted celebrities, tourists and locals alike for decades. The restaurant’s open kitchen allows diners to take a peek while chefs prepare their wood-fired pizzas, tuna tartare, and other dishes, and the spot claims to have been one of the first restaurants in New York City to have a communal table.” [H/T Robb Report]

Maya Lin will create a sculptural garden fountain for the Obama Presidential Center.

“When the $830 million Obama Presidential Center opens on Chicago’s South Side in 2025, one of its most distinctive features will be a sculptural commission by artist Maya Lin in honor of former president Barack Obama’s late mother, Ann Dunham. Positioned within an outdoor area near the center’s north entryway that will be known as the Ann Dunham Water Garden and designed to optimize rest and reflection, the sculpture Seeing Through the Universe will consist of an upright oculus form that produces a mist and an adjacent orb laid flat, which will function as a gently cascading fountain.” [H/T The Art Newspaper]

Ai Weiwei will curate an exhibition of works by incarcerated artists this fall in London.

“This fall, Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei will curate a show of works created by incarcerated people in London. The exhibition, titled “Freedom,” is organized by the Koestler Arts charity, which promotes and sells works by incarcerated people, and will open at the Southbank Center this October. It’s intended to mark the 60th anniversary of the Koestler Awards, a prize initiative honoring the artistic achievements of detainees across the U.K. criminal justice system.” [H/T ARTnews]

Today’s attractive distractions:

This bonkers superyacht-blimp hybrid can cruise both the sea and the sky.

Hysteria about sex bracelets can offer enduring insight into moral panics.

Plunge pools have become a more simple way for homeowners to cool off. 

Enter the remote Sonoran Desert, the most surveilled place in America.